How the US Funds the Taliban

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Excerpt:

"Welcome to the wartime contracting bazaar in Afghanistan. It is a virtual carnival of improbable characters and shady connections, with former CIA officials and ex-military officers joining hands with former Taliban and mujahedeen to collect US government funds in the name of the war effort."
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Vierotchka
  • added November 12, 2009

25 comments // How the US Funds the Taliban

  •  

    We should get the hell out of Afganistan,all this killing is over a pipe.No more blood for oil.

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    LadybugLady
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    Viero you dont understand: Its all for Freedom, Democracy and the spread of prosperity and good old Christian values.

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    vladbox
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    Every time you buy somthing from pakastan you are supporting the bad guys. Every time we put gas in our cars we are supporting the tallyban and yes this is still a war about oil rights and a big ass pipeline to move it. Just what are we going to do about it?? I did what I could do when I Voted for Mr. Obama.

    bailey78
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    In historical terms, the U.S. spawned the taliban. simple as that.

    FishaHouse777
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    Interesting and I thought americans use of its poppy crop was the only way the taliban was supported by the us! we need to get out of afganistan now just pull out and go home.this whole country is as crooked as a 3 dollar bill and its leader and his family are bandits anyway! we did create the taliban,we supported them during their war with the russians,armed and trained them,and now we are paying the price! am hoping that Obama,by rejecting all four tactical options presented by the military,am hoping he will announce a complete withdrawl.the only way to resolve our economy is to put all that war money into creating jobs,housing,and educational oppotunities here at home! TO HELL WITH THEM LET EM KILL EACH OTHER!

    galwayman
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    U.S. Funds Terrorism in Mob Ruled Afghanistan
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paL4dzxyUrM...
    Filmmaker Robert Greenwald explains and confirms a news report from The Nation that found Afghanistan is run by the Taliban mob and not it's government. This brings into question the legitimacy and morality of sending tens of thousands more U.S. troops to put their lives on the line for a government so corrupt that we have to pay the enemy off. We actually fund the Taliban.

    Meanwhile the U.S. is not welcome in Afghanistan. As Greenwald puts it, imagine how you'd feel if you were occupied by a foreign force that came around breaking down your doors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paL4dzxyUrM&feature=player_embedded

    The Nation's Anran Roston reports (http://www.thenation.com/doc/20091130/roston):

    Understanding how this situation came to pass requires untangling two threads. The first is the insider dealing that determines who wins and who loses in Afghan business, and the second is the troubling mechanism by which "private security" ensures that the US supply convoys traveling these ancient trade routes aren't ambushed by insurgents.

    NCL Holdings is a licensed security company in Afghanistan with its chief principal, Hamed Wardak the young American son of Afghanistan's current defense minister, Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak, who was a leader of the Mujahedeen against the Soviets. They have a $2.2 billion contract (10% of Afghanistan;s GDP) for the U.S. military's six trucking contracts that supply EVERYTHING to our troops.

    Roston reports:

    The real secret to trucking in Afghanistan is ensuring security on the perilous roads, controlled by warlords, tribal militias, insurgents and Taliban commanders. The American executive I talked to was fairly specific about it: "The Army is basically paying the Taliban not to shoot at them. It is Department of Defense money." That is something everyone seems to agree on.

    Trucking manager Mike Hanna explains, "You are paying the people in the local areas--some are warlords, some are politicians in the police force--to move your trucks through."

    "We're basically being extorted. Where you don't pay, you're going to get attacked. We just have our field guys go down there, and they pay off who they need to." Sometimes, he says, the extortion fee is high, and sometimes it is low. "Moving ten trucks, it is probably $800 per truck to move through an area. It's based on the number of trucks and what you're carrying. If you have fuel trucks, they are going to charge you more. If you have dry trucks, they're not going to charge you as much. If you are carrying MRAPs or Humvees, they are going to charge you more."

    The truckers are banned from carrying any heavy artillery to guard against killing innocent civilians (a big liability there for the U.S.), which means they are subject to hits by the Taliban. What this means is that the insurgents (the Taliban) are being paid off by the U.S. government to not attack the trucks.

    Hanna says it is just a necessary evil. "If you tell me not to pay these insurgents in this area, the chances of my trucks getting attacked increase exponentially."

    This is Afghanistan's version of Blackwater. One of the six U.S. trucking companies, Four Horsemen International, has opted to fight their way through instead of paying off the Taliban and they have "paid the price in lives, with horrendous casualties....," attacked on virtually every mission.
    _________________________________________________________________
    The Daily News reports:

    The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, a former military commander there, has expressed deep concern to Washington about sending more U.S. troops, the Washington Post and The New York Times reported on Thursday.

    Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/11/12/2009-11-12_reports_us_envoy_to_....

    On Greenwald's ReThink Afghanistan website (http://rethinkafghanistan.com/) a video of U.S. combat veterans asking Obama not to send any more troops

    recommended by ras_menelik, Vierotchka
    JonRaymond
  •  

    Vets ask Obama to ReThink Afghanistan with a petition for your support

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    JonRaymond
  •  

    if you thought that, if you stopped buying gas that it would save a soldiers life, would you?

    royulery
  •  

    V,

    Do you support the Taliban?

    samthesixth
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    ras_menelik
  •  

    Behind the Scenes with The Taliban

    ras_menelik
  •  

    We need to bring our troops home! We have more to fear from a "privatized military" than giving up our ideas of nation building in Afghanistan! End the funding for private contractors. If we don't have enough volunteers to fight for oil than it's time to green our economy for the sake of national security! We need a green public works program, not war!

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